Metal Dance
by Cara Lea
Summary: I looked at her and spoke from my deep within. "I hate you because you are human." She glared at me in return. "And you hate me because I'm not.  Do not argue with that statement. I can see in your eyes that you don't like the fact that I'm not like you."
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

_Hey there! I would first like to thank you for reading the prologue to my story "Metal Dance". It means a great deal that I have readers. But I must be honest about a few things. First off, The name _Metal Dance..._I got it from a song by my favorite band: The Megas. It's not mine and I make no claim to it. Second- and this is hard for me to say -I haven't actually played Mega Man. I get sick from playing video games, actually. I read the manga and listened to The Megas. Don't get me wrong, I like the game, but that does not mean I've played it. Consequently, I know very little about the game itself. So this is a kind-of game-verse/manga-verse book. Sorry bout that. :( I hope you enjoy it anyway! Thanks again for reading._

_-Cara Lea_

_oh and...well I won't really have a lot of time in the coming months...so if it isn't updated quite as often that's because I don't have time to update it. I apologize in advance.  
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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>:

There was a distant, very annoying sound that was gradually growing louder. This is the first thing I noticed upon waking. It was a high-pitched beeping sound that came from...came from where? I struggled vainly to open my eyes and see what I would have to kill to end that noise, but I found it was very difficult to move. In fact, I didn't feel like I could move my limbs at all.

But that noise! It was louder still, and I didn't think my poor audio receptors would be able to handle much more of it. I felt my arm twitch and almost let relief squash me. I still _had_ arms.

"He's moving!" someone very near my head shouted. "Dr. Wily, come quick!"

Their loud squalling along with the annoying beeping was what ultimately made me move. I opened my eyes and instantly regretted it. A bright light hit my optics, bright as the sun on any sunny day. I groaned as my optics re-adjusted to the new light. Moving was becoming easier. With a grunt of effort, I sat up and looked around me.

Seven others stood in the room, stillness settled on them like they were pictures. I shook myself vigorously and took each one in. Quickman in the back, his large yellow chevron pointing at me; Crashman sitting, his head bowed, face covered in shadows; Flashman leaning casually against a wall and eyeing me purposefully; Heatman glaring at me with narrowed eyes; Bubbleman sitting on a chair staring up at the ceiling with a smirk; Airman, glossy blue and yellow plating reflecting the light painfully back at my aching head as he stared at me balefully; and last of all Dr. Wily himself, staring at me with an undisguised mix of worry and hatred.

My memory was sluggish, slow compared to normal on the length of time it took me to comprehend these faces. After a moment of awkward silence, and spoke, surprising myself with how my voice rasped so crashingly to what I should sound like. Or thought I should sound like. "What's going on? Where am I? Where's Woodman?"

Dr. Wily answered me quickly, "You're in the lab, getting repairs after a vicious fight with Megaman. You were seriously injured- almost lost completely! Woodman set out to challenge him as soon as word of your demise came through."

"My demise?" I blurted. What was going on here?

"Yes...it seems you were not as strong as we predicted, to have been thwarted by a mere household robot." There were snickers around the room. I bristled inwardly, but didn't openly challenge him. I was still sluggish and I didn't know what was going on. I didn't fail to notice, however, that Crashman and Flashman were not laughing. "It is no matter," continued the doctor. "You are here now, and there is work to be done. Flashman will fill you in on recent events and make sure you're up to date. Be ready in about 2 hours to set out."

I wanted to ask where we were going to be going, but I couldn't. They filed out of the room- still snickering -before I had time.

All but Flashman had gone. He stood in the back corner, head down. His face was blank, as though he were processing what he would say. I stood up and paced toward him, wobbling unsteadily on my glossy red legs. I felt like I was wading through deep sand.

"I don't have all day Flashman," I growled when I reached him. The time limit Dr. Wily had set was on the forefront of my mind, and was my top priority. Little flashes of memory were coming back to me now. I could still see the face of a child under a blue helmet in the fire of- the memory cut off there. Had I really fought and lost to a child? "Tell me what's going on so we can carry out Wily's orders."

A smirk played about his unnaturally serious face. "I can see you have recovered your _attitude_ a bit."

I growled low in my throat. "Just tell me what's going on!" I snapped.

Flashman sighed then leaned forward. "It's just like Dr. Wily said," he snipped right back. "You fought against Megaman like ordered and lost. Pathetic, really."

I could tell- though I'm not sure how -that there was something he wasn't telling me. "So that's it?" I asked, choosing those words carefully. "That's all that happened? That's not a lot to tell."

Flashman shook his head, his eyes becoming distressed. "I suppose not. Dr. Wily said..." he trailed off, voice and eyes going blank again as he fell into his thoughts once more. I was becoming impatient. I knew that there was more to the story than Flashman was saying. He was too serious to be telling the whole truth, and I wanted to know why he wouldn't tell me the rest. I took a threatening step forward, and Flashman looked at me again. When he spoke, it was a hoarse whisper that actually scared me. "Your memory chip wasn't damaged in battle, Metalman. Wily had your memory wiped. He ordered us not to say anything but..." He looked away as I froze in shock. "But I think you deserve to know," he finished. He looked at me, trying to judge what I was thinking I guess. All he would see was my blank face though. I was shocked. I didn't know what to think, or what to feel. What had they deleted forever from me? And why?

"What?" I finally stammered. Flashman shook his head.

"I can't tell it to you properly, Metalman. I'll have to show you." He abruptly grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the table to lay down on. He produced a tiny chip seemingly out of nowhere as words spilled rapidly from his large mouth. "I'm gonna put this in the back of your head, so that you may see it. You probably won't be able to finish it before we leave. I'll give you as much time as I can but there's only so much I can do."

I steadied myself. "I don't understand. What's going on? Why would Wily have my memory erased?"

Flashman's answer didn't come immediately. He just continued to look thoughtful. I laid back on the table and he put his hand behind my head, chip at the ready. "You'll understand in a little bit, Metalman." And he slapped his hand against the back of my head, chip inserting into my memory input and flooding my already tired soul with information I had dearly missed.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The city was a prism. Light bounced off of one glass building, only to hit another. It was trapped in a maize of glass walls and metal structures. To the normal optic, it would seem like a sunny day in the city, but to my roving eye, it was more of a glowing metropolis.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Flashman questioned me, coming to stand by my side and view the city. "All the precious light, trapped in the city?"

I snorted. "It's a prison. The humans that live there enslave our kind. We're just as trapped as the light."

Flashman shrugged. "What are we gonna do about it?" I didn't grace him with a verbal answer, just made fists and shifted on my feet. Flashman caught on. "What? You want to destroy the city? Hello! We can't turn the tides against the humans unless they're alive!"

I ignored him, instead facing my other brother as he appeared beside me. "Humans disgust me," Quickman muttered absently. "They're slobs with squishy insides. The only human worth anything is Dr. Wily."

I clucked in agreement, glaring once more over the glowing city. "They think they can enslave us as though we're pets of some kind." My optics glowed at my speech. "But they're completely wrong. We're the superior beings, and with Dr. Wily at the lead, we'll show them just how inferior they are."

Nobody said anything. They didn't have to. We all felt the same way. It might have been programming, or maybe we had been convinced somehow. It didn't matter. All of my brothers agreed with me that the humans were practically soulless on their treatment towards robots. Wily was different. He believed in robots' rights. He had made a promise to us that if we fight for him, we'd get the same freedoms that humans have. We would be the superior beings, not them.

"Does Wily have anything to say to me?" I asked after a moment. "Don't tell me you came here to hear me rant."

Quickman gave me a sidelong glance. "Not really. He wanted to see Flashman real quick." He winked. "And sent me to get him."

"What about me?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

I shifted my weight as the wires in my leg pinched under my heavy weight. "Ask him if I'm needed for anything, will you?" Although I wouldn't tell my...dear?...brothers it, I was itching to go into the city. Something about the depths of the prison were calling to me. It would also give me the opportunity to see the humans up close, to see their interactions and remind myself just what I was fighting for and against. It wasn't only because I didn't want to see their laughing faces pointed at me, but they would glitch all to hell if they thought I was going to spend a night in the city.

Quickman "rolled his eyes" at me- as Wily would put it -and vanished to find our great leader. It didn't take him long to get there, ask the question, and return. He was at my side again in under 5 minutes. "He says he's got nothing for you," he reported.

I nodded slowly. This was my chance. I could my make escape without disobeying orders. Quickman glared over my shoulder at Flashman. "But he _did_ say that you are to report to him _immediately_." Flashman bared his teeth in snarl, then paced away. I watched them silently for a moment. There was nothing more amusing than watching my brothers squabble over something stupid like such.

"Look, Quickman," I began, looking at him. "If Wily asks where I am, tell him I'm walking, wouldja?"

Quickman tilted his head curiously. "Where are you going?"

I shrugged. "Wherever. Doesn't matter to you, does it?"

Quickman nodded slowly. "So long as I don't get in trouble for it, sure." Looking into his eyes, I understood what he was thinking. Wily was a great leader, and a noble man to follow, but when you made him angry, he was not quick to forgive or forget. I turned back to the city-prison.

"It's got nothing to do with you. I'm leaving and I'm not letting you stop me. You can tell him I said so."

It was Quickman's turn to shrug. "Whatever dude. Just get lost before I change my mind."

Tossing him an un-intimidated glare, I leaped from the building and began my trek through the human wasteland called the city.

_Humans really are disgusting,_ I reflected glumly as I stalked through the passerby. Why had I wanted to come to this dumphole they called home? What was wrong with me? _I must ask Wily's work-bots to check my inner circuitry for glitches when I get back._ The people had habits I couldn't imagine. A younger almost-full sized girl was chewing ferociously at something sticky in her mouth, smelly water droplets clung to my arm where a round man had brushed past me, one guy even stopped and spit on the ground in front of me! I bared my teeth. These pests would pay one day for what they were: atrocious creatures of glutton and smelly liquid.

One human in particular stood out in front of me. I knew upon sight that she was not like the others, though how I knew was beyond me. _Glitches...glitches..._she had white hair that was pulled up in a hoop on the back of her head. She was skinny too, or maybe that had to do with black over-shirt she wore, which pulled really tight against her body. A long sleeved white blouse was sticking out from under the black corset. She was also wearing a skirt that was pretty close to leaving her nude. Her arms- unnaturally bulky compared to the rest of her -were bare, despite the long sleeves. Buttons on the sides of the sleeves had been undone, I guessed. Human clothing had never interested me. The skin on her legs was shiny and smooth. With one leg bearing her weight, and the other brought up so the toe-tips were touching the ground. She had on black boots that covered her feet, but I guessed they were small and smooth like the rest of her.

It occurred to me while I studied her that most humans would find her quite attractive. I didn't see it. Her pale face was set in a pout, and by the way her arms were folded below her breasts, I surmised that she wasn't happy about something. Her troubled blue eyes and unnaturally pale face, compared to her incredibly thin body- give the bulky arms -made her actually quite disturbing. She wasn't a normal human at all. She was deformed beyond repair!

Right about that time, a group of five human guys rounded the far corner. I stepped back against the growing shadows, watching the girl as the five human men came her way. She oddly seemed small compared to them. When I had first laid optics on her, I had noticed her arms as a little more round than the rest of her, but these new humans were so much larger than her. She almost seemed fragile.

I leaned against one of the buildings and watched with sudden interest.

The men noticed the girl just then. One of the group's greasy eyes roved her over. He lifted his rather large arm- though not as large as _mine,_ I noted in satisfaction -and nudged another member of the group. He whispered something even my nicely tuned audio receptors couldn't pick up, and before the girl even realized what was happening, the group had surrounded her where she stood. I looked around. To my surprise, there weren't actually a great deal of fleshlings around. There were some across the street, and others a little farther down the block, but in the immediate vicinity, it was only the group, the girl, and me.

By now the girl had noticed she was not alone. I felt a little at ease that none of them had noticed me yet. I was strictly the observer- like humans watching their pathetic tv shows or whatever they call 'em. The girl tilted her head as the men enclosed her, but otherwise did not react. It was unnatural, I thought. Most people were fight/flight creatures, but it seemed that this human wasn't going to do either. My interest piqued.

"Hey beautiful," one of the men growled. I assumed by the primal way he stood and appeared that he was the leader of this group. He had the biggest bulges on his arms, making him the strongest. He had stepped forward to speak, and the other four men in the group watched him eagerly. _I shall call him Bulge, because of his odd looking arms._ "I think I seen you afore. Where you from?"

The girl continued glaring into the store window, not gracing the man with a response. "Now that's not really any of your business, is it?"

The male laughed. "Nah, I guess it aint." He let his eyes roll over her once more. "But I do recognize yo face. That outfit...you work at Moon Flower, don't ya?"

_Moon Flower? What _is_ that? That sounds so stupid! Something a human would say..._ I watched.

She sniffed disapprovingly and finally whipped around to face the five humans. Her soft back touched the glass as she leaned against the smooth surface, folding her arms carefully. "So what if I do?"

Looking at her face, I could see something there that I hadn't noticed upon first inspection. Her murky, dark blue eyes had a human element, a human emotion, that I didn't recognize. It was a sort of wild expression, an emotion with a sharp edge. It was a look Wily had never used before in my presence, and it clicked in my mind that the look caused me to feel...worried? Anxious? There was no describing that moment in a way that would make any sense to my inner circuitry. The emotion was so encompassing, I wasn't even thinking glitches.

The human males had moved closer to her in that second of contemplation. They hadn't seemed to have noticed the change in her. "So, you got a lot of nerve even askin dat," one of the guys said in a deep voice. I narrowed my optics as Presumed Leader asserted himself by cutting off the new guy's access. He stepped between him and the girl, so close to her I was sure they were breathing each other's air.

"Why even ask, little lady? The answer don't matter nohow. You know what we want." By now I was beyond confused. I felt a rush of indignation for the poor girl. She was being roughly interrogated by a group of men much bigger than her, and they expected her to read their minds? How was she supposed to know what they wanted, being a mere human and all?

I shook myself. What was I doing? Watching petty human interactions like this was going to my head. _I really need to get back to Wily's base and get checked. I _must_ be malfunctioning somewhere!_

I needn't have fretted in the first place. It seems that the human race was more talented than I gave them credit for. Little human girl _did_ know what the men wanted. "Yes, I see. Well I'm not interested." She took a step forward, signaling the end of the conversation. I nodded though I wasn't sure why. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to get to-" she cut off as the men crowded around her. I couldn't see her face, but it struck me that the strange emotion I had detected earlier had become more noticeable. Even the men had noticed now.

"Work can wait," Leader declared. He stood and approached the girl from behind. I leaned forward from my spot, becoming as interested as I had first been.

As she spun around, I saw another change in her features. Her face seemed to be shrinking. Her eyes were wide, the tops of the irises showing. The look was unsettling. Her air of authority seemed to have dimmed a little when she spoke, her voice sounding a little more strained. "You can tell my boss that. In the meantime, I really have to be going-"

The men had her completely enclosed, Leader stepping forward and standing next to her. "You're not going anywhere." In the instant that he reached out to brush her cheek from behind, I noticed two things. First off, her jaw had clenched, her face set in a look of single-minded determination I had seen Quickman use when trying to carry out a difficult task for Wily. The second was that her hands- both of them -had clenched into tight fists.

The men's fingers brushed her cheek ever so softly, almost as though he weren't actually touching her. Later in my life, I will be swearing that it sent an electrical charge into her, forcing her into action. She spun around without introduction, brought up a round fist, and rammed it into the guys nose with a force I wouldn't have thought possible for a girl her size. I then reflected the arms- they were more bulky than the rest of her. She must be a bit tougher than I thought.

Not tough enough. The moment her fist connected with his face, the men sprang forward. On of them punched her in the stomach, causing her to double over. As she was otherwise occupied, a different guy grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back. The poor human girl was completely defenseless.

As had happened a lot in the past few moments, I had a new revelation. This human girl was in _real_ danger. Something that the men wanted from the girl was putting her in danger. It was a reality that brought a wild feeling into my system- like a splash of frigid water from Bubbleman when he got mad enough to respond to our endless taunting. No thoughts occurred to me at all. In fact, I was sure Flashman had followed me and messed up my sense of time. One moment I was watching with intense interest, the next I was looming over the humans, my shadow falling across all of them simultaneously.

"I suggest you let the girl go," I stated simply. The men had dropped her and formed a line facing me. Girl gasped and lifted her head, staring at the men from below me. Leader stepped forward, obviously enraged at my arrival.

"Who're you to say what I should do, _robot_? Have you forgotten that humans don't have to listen to robots orders? Or are you malfunctioning?"

If he thought he was mad, nothing compared to rage I felt the moment the words left his lips. How _dare_ he? Robots were just as capable- no, _more_ capable -than humans would _ever_ be at getting anything accomplished! All that I fought for, all that Wily had ever preached to me, rang in my ears as I revealed two of my precious blades to the humans. That'll show them, _robots_ don't take orders either!

Leader took a step back, gray eyes widening at the site of them. "What the-?"

I reared back, ready to let loose. The humans turned on their heels and took off running down the sidewalk. My whole arm snapped forward, and I released the blade the moment I calculated decent enough aim. My programming was off, because I just barely missed the men as the last of them rounded the corner and vanished. The blade struck a light post with a clang, and rolled on the ground.

Girl had stood up by now. I knew she was watching me I a walked over without a word to her to pick up my weapon. Anger boiled inside me. Stupid humans thought they could control my kind. Well I'd show them. _I really really need to get looked at,_ I thought. One of the reasons that they had infuriated me so was because I knew I was glitching. The human had guessed just right when he'd spoken.

"Thanks," said Girl in a soft alto. I looked up at her. Who was she to embarrass me so? I hated her then more than any other time, the pathetic and soft looking human. She was one of them, trying to enslave my kind. She didn't understand the hatred in my glare. "For saving my life. If you hadn't had come along, I don't know what would have become of me."

I turned without gracing her with a response and began to tread away. "Hey," she called after me. I ignored her. She ran up beside me and matched my stride. "Are you all right? Can you understand what I'm saying? I know you can speak but can you-?"

She was too annoying to be allowed to continue. I turned to her to tell her to shut up and stopped at the look on her face. She genuinely wanted to know about me. This frustrated me, but at the same time calmed me. How could she help but ask these questions? She was too stupid to know the answers herself. I explained in a tense, but quite voice, I answered her, "I'm fine. Now please," I gestured with my arm that she should back off. I took another step but she followed.

"So you understand me?"

"Yes."

"I said thank you."

"Good for you." By this point I regretted saving her. What was I thinking? I should have just walked away when I had a chance.

She stepped forward so she was walking beside me again. "It's considered polite to say you're welcome when someone thanks you."

"Whatever."

"You saved my life!"

I bared my teeth inside my helmet. "Don't mention it."

"Don't mention it? You saved me! How am I supposed to just-" Like many other times tonight, she was cut off. I spun around and put my blade to her soft throat, knowing only that if I cut there she'd shut up.

"I said, Don't mention it." I growled, looking into her eyes. They were wide again, the tops of the irises showing. While her eyes had widened, they scrunched together. Her whole face clenched.

"Yeah," she finally managed to choke out. To me it was a sign enough of submission for me to let her go. Besides, I had to get back and get checked for glitches and malfunctions.

Briskly walking away, I expected to be left alone. Such was not the case. She called after me _again_. _Oh forbid I kill this girl!_ I screamed internally as she caught up to me. "Those are some handy blades," she said hotly. "But I'll bet it's not the only thing you got up your sleeve."

"Not at all," I conceited. _And unless you want to meet them, I suggest you back off._

"Any chance you got surveillance equipment up there too?"

I glared at her. "What, you wanna spy on someone?"

"Not necessarily," she bowed her head sheepishly. I cursed her silently for being so confusing. "I was just wondering if you recorded the last couple of minutes. You see I work at this bar down the street- that's where the guys recognized me from -but anyway I want to give the guardbots their faces so that they won't allow the men to come into the bar anymore."

I hissed under my helmet. "Then describe them to them." I turned away. "I don't record things."

She seemed so disappointed. And that look was coming back. "I need you to help me!" she exclaimed. "Those men will just come back once you're gone and then I'm done for!" I looked at her, not quite understanding what she meant, but knowing it was a bad thing. "Look, if you could just come for a few minutes, the guardbots can look into your memory chip and then you'll be on your way, and I'll be safe, and we both win!"

She seemed so desperate. _Glitches..._"Fine," I growled. I couldn't believe myself as the girl lead me down the street, away from my destination.

"Oh thank you thank you, what's your name? I'm Kazue by the way."

I glared at her- at Kazue, for the first of many times. "I'm Metalman."

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><p>:D I finally finish after weeks of preparation. Believe me, this has been hard for me to write. I got to ask Rev. Breeding and Keyboard Man from The Megas about Metalman, and they pretty much said he's a snarkass stuck up character that I can mess around with for a bit, so that's what I'mma do! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter.<p>

-Cara Lea (TalaLeisu2)


	3. Chapter 2

****Oh my gosh, I actually got a review from Josh Breeding (well who claims to be Josh Breeding). This is a bit exciting for me, as you can guess XD well I hope you're enjoying the story, whether or not you actually are Josh! This is the latest chapter, and it's short, but I do like it. I hope you do too.

this story is inspired by Megaman (which I finally played! :D), by Capcom, and by The Megas. I make no claim to the characters whatsoever.

-Cara Lea

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

The white blocks shone in the city lights that struck it. It emanated a sort of presence of it's own, the building catching the eye of passerby as easily as a glowing neon sign that screamed, "Notice me!" The black rooftop was hard to catch against the starless black night, making the building seem endless, and ongoing, as though it were taller than the buildings around it. During the day, it was just an ordinary white building, standing out only to those who knew its night face.

To me, it could have been any other building on the block. Much of them had the same, come hither look to them, and I was not impressed. And to be honest, I was paying more attention to the guardbots standing outside the building. They looked almost like my brother Flashman, in a way. They had the same round features, and round weapons, though it was obvious that their weapons were not at all like Flashman's. Their glossy paint was silhouetted against the bright background of the building. As we approached, I caught a glint of silver, and snorted to myself. These were guardbots in a sense. They had the right character and weaponry, but I could see just how weaker they were compared to me. It was almost funny how Kazue would be depending on them to save her should Bulge and the others return for her. They couldn't do too much damage compared to a robot like me.

Kazue lead me up to them. "Hi Pillar, Brass." She nodded to them both. "This is Metalman. He has some images I need you to see."

"Is something wrong, Ms. Himura?" one of the bots asked. I tilted my head. Their names were too strange for me to actually think of them with those identities. I decided to call them Bot 1 and Bot 2.

She tilted her head and looked at me. "I was attacked by a group of men. They must be regulars. They saw me and knew me from here. If it hadn't had been for Metalman here, I would have been in much worse shape by now." I doubted that any of the idiots surrounding me could see my teeth bared through the helmet. How can she call me a hero? By this point in my whole creation, I wanted nothing more than to end her stupid race's existence.

Bot 1 was nodding. "Come with me please, Miss. I'll file your report and take a statement." Something about the way Kazue didn't argue bothered me as I watched her go. I ground my hands into fists in frustration, turning to face Bot 2 before me.

"Good evening, sir," he said politely to me. "Ms. Hiruma says you have some images for us. I would like to be able to copy them, so we can send them in along with our report."

I growled low in my throat as I spoke. "How do you expect to do that?"

He was too kind for my taste. _I'll shoot him one day. If he's with them he's against us. I'm sure Wily wouldn't mind..._ "I'm going to need to see your memory card." That one statement cut through all my thoughts.

"_What?_"

He continued with a sinister smile, his unwavering kindness now frightening to me. "I can look into your memory card and save the image into my processor. It would be a quick and simple process."

I turned away from the scene without so much as a flinch. "No way. Not in any robot hell would I _ever_ let you do that." I felt a sort of disappointment, so I pushed myself onward to march away purposefully. "Poke around in somebody else's brain."

"Please sir. We need that file to back up our report."

I ignored him, an eerie chill settling over me as he spoke. He was still too polite for my taste. _Just shoot him! Nobody would care!_

I stopped as a thought struck me. Kazue would. She would very much care if I shot one of her guardbots. As I hesitated, the very girl in on my mind reappeared. "Oh you're leaving?" she inquired as she approached. I looked into her deep blue, worried eyes and sighed in defeat. I didn't allow myself to argue internally. That would have been too much of a diversion. I needed all my concentration to stop myself from walking away right then and there. I knelt down in front of Bot 2 and glared up at him as I removed the hard plating on the back of my head.

I don't remember much from the actual process itself. A side effect of having my memory chip taken out, I guess. But my internal chronometer was working, and I knew it didn't take long. Before even five minutes had gone by, they had given me my memory chip back.

The looks on the faces of the bots as I stood afterward irked me. I had given them my memories, everything that I held dear, and they somehow found it humorous. There was a hint of amusement in their faces, and a trace of it in their voices only another robot like myself could pick up on. "Thank you for your time, sir."

Kazue smiled at me and rubbed her arm self-consciously. I blinked at her, preserving this moment as we said our goodbyes. "Well," she started the end. "I would thank you, but I hear that you don't like that very much. So I'm just gonna say that I'm glad you agreed to come."

I nodded. "Whatever."

She smiled shyly, shifting her weight on her feet for a moment. I sensed the briefest hesitations in her, as if there was something that wasn't being said. _Humans are way too confusing. I have _got_ to get home and get looked at._ She didn't wait any longer. "Guess I'll see you around, maybe?"

I stared at her and said nothing. Of course we wouldn't be seeing each other again. I would never return to this hell-hole again, unless it was to destroy it. The gleeful/hopeful expression on her face faded a little in my silence. She nodded slowly, inhaling through her nose before she spoke again. "Well, I guess this is it. Goodbye Metalman."

"Goodbye Kazue," I said in as gentle a voice I could pull off. The slight distress I saw in her eyes was still disturbing to me, for whatever reason I couldn't fathom. "I hope things work out here, with those guys I mean."

Kazue nodded and looked at me for a long moment. Then she gave an awkward wave/nod thing and spun toward the building. I watched in awed silence as the darkness of the white building swallowed her.

The moment she was gone, I felt as if a sort of bond dropped to the floor. I no longer had any purpose for being here. _I should go._ I told myself. _I need to get looked at, remember? Glitches._ That was it. That's why I had been acting funny all night. Glitches.

I turned away from the building and began to pace in the direction I had come from. Something must really have been wrong with me, because I was a little disoriented. I paused as I considered the direction I should be heading and turned to face it. "Metalman!" called a voice behind me. I froze as Bot 2 approached me. "Sir, wait, I wish to talk to you."

I sighed and shook my head. "What do you want?"

He seemed most awkward as he spoke. "Well, it's just that Ms. Hiruma seemed to really like you. She said you saved her from an attack. And I couldn't help but notice that you are a combat bot-"

"Get to the point!" I snapped. Too tired to wait for answers, and a little concerned with my mental health, I had become impatient with the guardbot.

Stamping his foot, throwing his shoulders back and glaring at me, his optics read with the passion of his command, he ordered me, "I want you to stay away from here. Leave Kazue alone. She's a nice girl, and the last thing she needs is a brute like you to come along and mess with her head."

I almost laughed. Did this pathetic creature mean to stand up for Kazue against me? To give him credit, he was being more assertive than before. The old traces of politeness had abandoned him in his reverie. To any normal bot, he could be frightening. But me, I knew better than to be afraid of a little bug like him. Still, I couldn't completely suppress the chuckle. "Oh, don't you worry about that. I'm in no rush to return her anytime soon."


	4. Chapter 3

****Prepare yourself. This chapter is kinda weird at the end, when it talks about Wily and the girls D:

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

I paced up to the castle, staring up at it with darkened optics. It had been daylight when I had left. The moon had since crept out of its hiding place, scaring the sun to creep behind the distant horizon, sharing it's light with some other part of the world. The walls directly in front of me looked like any other part of the night sky. In the city, the stars were not nearly as visible as they were out here. Looking at the walls, I noted that because it was in fact a wall and not actually part of the sky there were no stars. This part of the wall was just like the city night sky, an endless black mass waiting to receive the dead once doom had stomped its foot on the rovers who dare travel this far, to the robot master metropolis.

I wondered vaguely why we called it a castle. It didn't look like a castle. It looked more like a fort on a random island just off the shore. There were no windows at all in the building, and the only entrances were available to the robot masters and Wily. Secret tunnels and burrows stretched out under the building, where each robot had his own private space where he could shed his wrath or recharge, should he so choose. The labyrinth even reached out to touch the ends of the city itself. Maybe it was the complexity of the building that gave it its name. Maybe it was the protection it offered each robot in his turn. After all, there was a war going on, and this was our base of operations.

My thoughts were interrupted by a snarl coming from a bubble as it floated to the surface. The water began to swirl violently, then erupted as it was tossed into a large disruptive wave. Cold water splashed over me, making me shiver involuntarily. "Geeze Bubbleman," I growled, spiteful. "You could have just said my name. No need to dump the entire ocean on me!"

He stepped out onto the dock, his webbed feet slapping the wood as fiercely as if he were still treading the angry ocean water. "Sorry, brother," he apologized briskly. All of his s's sounded slurred, like a mix between the shh sound and the ll sound. I blinked at him and held back a laugh at his strange lisp. I knew that if I even allowed the barest hint of a chuckle, my easy-to-pick-on brother would just splash me again. If I was already glitching, the last thing I needed was for him to splash all my beautiful paint off. "I didn't know it was you."

"Oh no," spoke a familiarly grating voice. "Come now Bubbleman, don't you lie to your own brother!"

"Heatman," I greeted my abrasive brother through clenched teeth.

Bubbleman snorted. "Why would I be lying, Heatman?"

The smaller, orange and red mech cackled. "I can think of a few reasons. But we all _know_ the real reason, don't we, Metalman?" Heatman was circling around me as he spoke. The way his voice rose in pitch suggested that there was something I should know about.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh please, like you don't you know?" He looked at me with his masked orange eyes. The look was full of all of him that I hated. It was a sort of edgy look, bordering on insanity. Inside his mind, he was holding his breath, waiting impatiently for something to happen. It wasn't a far stretch to get my eccentric brother this excited, but I couldn't fathom what any of it would have to do with me.

"Of course I don't know," I growled low in my throat. "In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been here."

As soon as the words left my mouth, Heatman threw his head back and laughed the most chilling laugh I had ever heard from him. He whipped down to face me again, standing on his very tippy toes to reach eye level with me. "That's just it!" he exclaimed in unrestrained enthusiasm. "You weren't here!"

My eyes narrowed, confusion settling over me. What had happened while I was away? "Yes Heatman, I was. Now would be a _great_ time to tell me what on earth is going on!"

"No." He leaned back, folding his arms across his chest and staring at me, gleeful as ever. "It's _your_ fault you were gone and missed it. So you'll just have to find out some other way."

I could smell the smoke coming from my head. I looked at Bubbleman, really needing my other brother's support right now. But his expression was closed off, and he shrugged as my optics met his. "Nope. Not getting involved with this one. Sorry Metalman. You'll just have to go inside and find out on your own!"

I hissed under my hood. Although I would have given to have pulled out my metal blades right then and chopped both my brothers up, I was too exhausted to really follow through. I desperately needed a recharge, and it was becoming more apparent with each passing second that I was going to need my backup energy for the coming hours in the castle walls.

I took a step forward, then stopped and looked at my brothers again. I wanted some kind of warning as to what I would be walking into. Bubbleman's right arm had reached around to grab his left, and he was not looking at me. Heatman was leaning his weight on his left leg and was watching me with his arms crossed. I glared at him for another moment, bracing myself for what I might face once inside, then I turned and walked into the castle, jumping and climbing, pulling myself to the rooftop I had left mere hours earlier.

I stomped through the building once I was in, following the maize of hallways. I noted internally that many of the mechs I passed stared at me until I was beyond their line of vision. I began to worry that my absence had been too long, or maybe Wily had even sent a spy after me and had witnessed me interacting with the human. I shivered at the thought of what would happen then. Wily would most certainly not be pleased with me if he had.

One of the reasons I was scared was because I didn't know what Wily would do with me as punishment for my dirty interactions. Anything could happen, I reflected. I respected him too much to hurt him, and I would forever be shamed if he found me guilty and unworthy. What would my dear brothers think? It gnawed on me the whole way to his main room.

Although it couldn't have been possible, Heatman was already in Wily's studio by the time I got there. I should have been surprised, but found I wasn't. Heatman did this kind of stuff way too often for me to be really surprised. _Maybe Quickman brought him._ Quickman hates Heatman, so I thought that very unlikely. However he got there, he was there, sitting on a top cabinet and looking eagerly down to me as I entered center stage with a spotlight.

Wily whirled to face me as I bowed my head politely and respectfully. "Metalman! Where were you? Are you all right?"

I nodded and answered him in a small voice. "I went out for a walk, sir."

"Quite a walk you must have had," he growled at me. "for it to have taken so long."

"Much too long sir," I mumbled. "I went to the city to scout out some better places for an attack, and got lost."

Heatman chuckled, but other than that, gave no response to my white lie. I ignored him. I was waiting for Wily's reaction too intently to notice a mere pest like my brother.

"While I understand your intentions, Metalman, do not leave this castle for so long again! You were dearly missed while I ran this experiment!"

I nodded again. "Yes sir. I'll be sure to make it back in good time should I decide to leave again."

One thing I liked about Wily was that he let us have freedoms. We could make our own decisions, go our own ways, have our own likes and dislikes, so long as we weren't a nuisance to him in the process. Our creator did not shame us for having our own minds and opinions. We were our own entities, like him. I felt awestruck at him in that moment, more than any other. He was the single human on the planet I wouldn't kill, the one I would fight to protect and would easily give my life for. It was his respect, his appreciation for robots that made him so powerful. Any of my robot family could have easily ripped him apart- or killed him from across the room if we wanted! -without so much as a scratch to show for it. It was our respect for him alone that kept us obeying, and bowing to him. He was a good man to listen to, I knew, and I felt deeply honored for having been his creation, and no other.

"Did you see any good spots while you were out?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. But I did notice some interesting human behavior." I froze, remembering who I was talking to and waiting for a reprimand. It did not come.

"Anything I should be concerned with?"

I shook my head. "I guess not. It was just human interactions."

He turned to face his computer again, dismissing me with a wave of his hand. "Then no need to tell me about it. I certainly know how humans interact. Go now and recharge. You will be needed in the morning."

"Yes sir." I was lucky. I had not gotten yelled at, and it seemed that Wily didn't know about Kazue. I saw the look on Heatman's face as I was leaving for my own chamber, and I was more than satisfied with what I saw.

I plodded through the interior of Wily's castle, optics roving the building carefully. It was morning now, and I had spent a night in the sweetest, deepest stasis. When I had woken, I had felt fairly surprised. Most of the time, recharge was a relaxing event. After all, it was the time where energy was re-instilled in the robots chassis. It was only on the rare occasion that a mech's core processor shut down to help advance the recharge. I must have been more tired than I'd thought.

I entered the mess hall, where my other brothers were already waiting for me. It didn't escape my notice that Heatman wasn't there. I smirked. My younger brother was probably still grumpy about the previous night.

"Hello," I greeted my brothers as I sat before them. Quickman- who was drinking a certain oil that would be carried to his joints as he drank them. He gulped as I sat down and blinked in surprise.

"Metalman," he greeted, smiling darkly. With oil staining his mouth area, it was an eerie smile indeed. "Had a long night, did we?"

I shook my head, not wanting to reveal just what I had done the night before. "Not at all. How about you? Did Wily give you any grief?"

He set his oil/drink on the table and stared straight ahead. "He only asked if I knew where you'd gone. When I told him I didn't, he dismissed me."

"Like he always does," grumbled Crashman from his other side, looking away as he spoke. I shot him a glare.

"Wily doesn't have time to tend to our every need, Crashman. We can take care of ourselves well enough without him worrying about it," Quickman hissed. I narrowed my optics.

"What's going on?"

Quickman jerked his thumb toward our brother. "Crashman here has something to complain about, and he's been taking it out on Wily all morning."

I leaned forward on the table. "What's on your mind, Crashman?" He shook his head, not answering me directly. The metal blade on the top of my head twitched ever so slightly as I cocked my head. "You gotta problem with our creator?" I had chosen those words carefully, reminding him just what we owed to Wily.

Crashman shook his head. "None at all."

"Then what's your beef?"

Bubbleman approached from his other side. "You can tell us, Crashman. We won't judge you for it."

Crashman bared his teeth at us as he stood. "Sure you won't, snorkel geek. Leave me alone." And he stomped away. Bubbleman froze, watching him go with a look that betrayed his hurt.

"Let it go," Woodman remarked, sitting opposite of him. "Obviously, he's malfunctioning. I report it later to the workbots. They'll know what's up."

I looked at Woodman and nodded politely. Of all my brothers, I felt like he was the one who understood us individually the best. He taunted Bubbleman the least, and his calm attitude had him getting along with everyone easily. That is, except Airman. Although there were no qualms between the two of them, Airman alone had been singled out as the brother who would have no friends. He avoided us as a single entity and lived on his own, outside the castle. I often wondered what would go through his head as he hovered above the city, keeping watch on all the pesky humans, but I more than often forgot about him completely.

Woodman kept his eyes on the table throughout the conversation, not speaking to any of directly after that. Quickman leaned forward, staring through my metal blade and looking into my optics. "So what happened last night? Heatman didn't nearly seem like himself when I saw him last."

I shook my head. "Nothing happened. He just warned me not to be gone for so long next time."

Quickman laughed. "You see, Metalman, I _never_ have that problem."

"Well you don't go anywhere," I pointed out mildly. Quickman nodded.

"True."

"So what happened while I was away?" I asked conversationally.

"Nothing unusual," he answered. "Flashman was being quite...flashy, but that was about it." I curled my lip in disgust as he spoke. Flashman was always acting strange. He would do the strangest things to try and provoke what he called "human stimulations" in his family. It was something he said Wily had talked about once while they had gone out to the city together. He explained that they had passed a shop where some young human females were dressed in lighter clothing, and then Wily had felt "stimulated" by it. None of us were quite sure what that meant, so it was Flashman's dearest experiment to try and find out what. He was often imitating the girls he saw that day, but none of us ever felt anything but violated. What, with his touching and strange behavior toward us, we didn't really have any other options when it came to emotions.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head simultaneously. "What did he do this time?"

Quickman's face transformed at my question, and I could guess that he didn't like me asking that. Pure disgust was on his face as he answered my question, quite reluctantly I duly noted. "I don't even know. You should be glad that you weren't there."

I smiled. "I am, actually."

Quickman finished his oil and looked at me. Flashman himself had approached the table and sat down on his other side. "Quite a night last night, eh Quickman," he winked and looked at me ruefully. "Sorry you weren't there, Metalman. I think we're close to a breakthrough. But don't worry about missing out on it. I'll fill you in tonight."

I shook my head and stood myself as did Quickman. "Sorry, Flashman. I'm gonna be busy tonight." That was a lie. As far as I knew, I was free. I just didn't want Flashman to try and do anything freaky to me that night.

He looked s disappointed at my answer, for which I was not entirely unhappy. I patted his shoulder as I passed him. "Maybe some other time," I said. As soon as I was out of earshot, I muttered to Quickman, "In your imagination."


End file.
